ALAMOSA, COLO. (December 16^th, 2016) --- The Adams State women's basketball team squandered a strong first quarter lead on their way to a tough 75-84 loss this afternoon to Westminster.
 
The tip off was a rare 1:00pm weekday game for the girls today. The Grizzlies appeared to be the most dominant team on the floor to start the game. With under a minute left in the first quarter, Maddy Merschel hit a jumper to give Adams a 21-14 lead. That would be the score heading into the second. The team would continue to control the game in the second, leading by as much as 9. The Griffins would make a push late in the second quarter however and take a 30-28 lead on a Riley Reidhead 3 pointer. Westminster would go on to take a 36-30 halftime lead.
 
Good shooting from beyond the arc would increase the Griffins' lead to double digits in the third. Adams would not give up though. Lejla Hadzialijagic hit a 3 of her own midway through the quarter to cut the lead down to 6. The Griffins would again reach a double digit lead several times before entering the final quarter with a 60-52 lead. Adams had a pretty good fourth quarter and were only outscored 23-24. Unfortunately the deficit they faced ending the third was too much to overcome as Westminster coasted to an 84-75 finish.
 
The Grizzlies kept themselves in it by forcing 21 turnovers which led to 15 points. Lejla Hadzialijagic and Nicole Broyles-Mortensen both had 3 steals in the defensive effort. Equally helpful was the 41.2% 3 point shooting to help the team stay within reach. Westminster shot a similar 47.4% from downtown. Freshman, Brianna Reyna had an unbelievable afternoon with 21 points. She also connected on 100% of all 3 of her 3 point shots. Lauren McDonald and Cydney McHenry also reached double digits in points with 14 and 11 respectively.
 
The team will finish up the 2016 calendar on the road against Colorado Christian on December 30^th and Chadron State on December 31^st.    
 
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